Incumbent Ward 7 Council Member Katie Cashman had a rough night at the April 8 DFL caucuses. Attendance was sky high in Ward 7 and throughout the city, the highest in nearly a decade, and while official delegate numbers from the Minneapolis DFL have been frustratingly hard to come by, it’s clear that Cashman significantly underperformed in the precincts that comprise the immediate Hill & Lake area.
Perhaps the most striking example was in Precinct 2 (Kenwood), where the event in the Kenwood School cafeteria was a door-buster. Sign-in sheets ran out almost immediately, forcing organizers to rely on writing pads brought by individual attendees to be used as ad hoc sign-in forms.
After the standing-room-only crowd was called to order and the initial business concluded, the group broke into sub caucuses to proportionally allocate delegates to the May 10 DFL Ward 7 convention, which determines which City Council candidate, if any, will receive the DFL endorsement.
At this point it emerged that out of the 187 residents packed into the cafeteria, fewer than six had attended to caucus for Cashman, meaning that her sub caucus failed to reach minimum viability and she was shut out from receiving a single delegate. Out of 32 delegate slots available, Park Board Commissioner Elizabeth Shaffer nabbed 30, while political newcomer Paula Chesley got 2.
It was a similar story in Precinct 3 (Lowry Hill), although not quite so lopsided, with Shaffer garnering 31 of 49 delegates, Cashman getting 8, and the remaining 10 declaring themselves uncommitted. The outcome was more mixed, but still skewed, in Precinct 9 (East Isles), Chesley’s home turf: 11 for Shaffer, 9 for Chesley, 3 for Cashman, and 21 uncommitted.
As with Kenwood, both precincts reported high turnout. Delegates in Precinct 4 (CIDNA) were awarded by acclamation, meaning their specific allegiance is unknown, but attendees reported polite clapping for Cashman when she arrived to speak, with Shaffer entering the room shortly afterwards to raucous applause and banging on tables.
While these are obviously just a handful of the 12 precincts that comprise Ward 7 — and Cashman does appear to have performed better in others — these are troubling numbers for any incumbent, and the precincts involved tend to have high turnouts in November.
Cashman responded, in part, by complaining about the process. On April 15, she and one of her supporters filed complaints with the DFL Ward 7 Committee about the 7-2 (Kenwood) and 7-4 (CIDNA) caucuses.
The complaint signed by Cashman related to the 7-4 caucus and sought, among other relief, to bar longtime DFL activist and local feminist icon Mary Pattock from convening caucuses in the future.
The second complaint, signed by Cashman supporter Kevin Ha, sought to invalidate the entire 7-2 caucus and have it “recalled,” i.e., everyone in the precinct would have been required to appear for an entirely new caucus at some unspecified point before the May 10 ward convention. Both complaints failed in committee on the evening of April 21.
Cashman’s complaint about the 7-4 caucus was heard by the Ward 7 Committee. By the time the group convened, part of her complaint had become moot, in that a local resident whom she alleged had maligned her during the caucus had voluntarily removed himself from the credentials committee, which was the relief she sought.
The remainder of the discussion focused on Pattock. In comments during the meeting, Cashman complained that Pattock had described her as a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) in social media posts.
Pattock, who said she had not even seen some of the allegations until the meeting began, refused to concede, and said she based her beliefs on information she had seen online and on Cashman’s voting record on the council.
After a robust discussion among the group, committee member Nick Kruse brought a motion to grant Cashman the relief she sought, but the motion failed when no other committee member would second it.
Cashman supporter Kevin Ha’s complaint regarding the 7-2 caucus was heard later that evening by the newly formed Ward 7 credentials committee.
Ha’s principal allegation was that new attendance counts were not taken before each sub caucus, which he speculated could have resulted in one delegate out of the 32 total being allocated to either Cashman or an “uncommitted” group, which had also failed to meet minimum viability in the first count.
Precinct 7-2 convener Mark Oyaas vigorously disputed Ha’s allegations, asserting that the caucus fully complied with the rules, and noting no objections were raised by anyone at the time of the ward delegate votes.
As with the prior complaint, a robust discussion ensued among committee members. Some expressed openness to granting some form of relief, including the potential of “reallocating” one delegate (which Cashman visibly supported).
Others pointed to the potential disenfranchisement of the remaining caucus-goers, and to the steep mathematical hurdle Cashman’s supporters would have needed to overcome to crack the minimum viability threshold given their low numbers.
As the discussion concluded, committee member Scott Graham (2023 Cashman opponent) brought a motion to dismiss the complaint. The motion quickly drew a second and passed on a vote of 7 to 4.
If nothing else, the high caucus turnout, palpable anti-incumbent sentiment, and ensuing complaints point toward an energized and fractious road to November.
